Santa María la Real de Irache

A Benedictian monastery, with strong ties to Cluny, existed here in 958, after the Reconquista had reconquered the area about 50 years earlier. There are hints, that a convent may have been here already in Visigothic times. The monastery offered a "hopital" to the pilgrims already in 1054, when nearby Estrella was not even founded.

The large church was erected in a Basilica-style within the 12th and 13th century on a the floorplan of a "Latin Cross".

The cloister was added to the complex between 1540 und 1586 and probably replaced an older one. The portal leads back into the church. It was erected in the rich Plateresque style, typical for buildings of the 16th/17th century here.